Recently, I was frustrated with the slightly out of tune twang of a 60's Pearl Valencia kit I use at my drum school. Those long t-rods do nothing to really create a nice even tension.
I like REMO Powerstroke series pre-muffled heads, and EVANS Emad series heads for bass drums. I use them for all my stage kits- but I am not going to buy them for every kit I have in the drum school. I was using some 60s Pearl vintage heads and they are not bad coated stock. But, I took a large piece of lightweight felt and cut it out to perfectly fit into the inner sides both of the 20" bass drum heads (front and back). I then used a simple glue stick to evenly apply glue to the inner surface of the head. I then pressed the felt circle into the back side of each of the heads- creating a inner layer. I then simply re-assembled the drum - empty- no other muffling system. The sound is fantastic.
Similar to a Powerstroke head in my opinion- better in a way- because it's a really warm sustain.The felt costs me the equivalent of 85 cents per 20" head (100yen) - It is an excellent way to make old bass drum heads sound good and MIJ bass drums as well. I am going to try it with the kits floor tom as well- will take some photos of the process when I do. Best of luck- go MIJsinger
